Southaven, Miss., Police were dispatched to a duplex at 5878 Surrey Lane to execute an arrest warrant but somehow ended up at the wrong address where Ismael Lopez lived across the street at 5881 Surrey Lane. Lopez had no warrants for his arrest and officers had no reason to be at his home at the time. Reports later stated, “Lopez was shot dead by police around 11:30 p.m. Sunday while standing in the doorway of his home” after police allege a dog charged towards them and opened fire when they feared for their lives as Lopez was in the possession of a weapon- a claim his family vehemently denies.

DeSoto County, Miss., District Attorney John Champion confirmed Monday that it was possible that officers went to the wrong address. Southaven police were sent to get a domestic violence suspect at 5878 Surrey Lane. Lopez lived just across the street at 5881 Surrey Lane.

As of Tuesday, the man police were actually looking for—one Samuel Pearman—was still not in custody.

Lopez, an auto mechanic, had no warrants out for his arrest and officers had no reason to be at his residence.

“He was not wanted for anything at all,” Champion acknowledged.

According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Champion gave a brief rundown of what happened prior to the shooting, saying that a pit bull apparently burst out of the home, prompting one of the officers to fire shots.

They claim that a man pointed a gun at officers through the open door. After officers reportedly warned him to put down the weapon, one of them opened fire. Champion said that it is believed that one officer shot at the dog and the other shot at the man.

Unfortunately, there was no video to back up the accounts of the officers or witnesses at the scene as Southaven police do not have body cameras.

The article continues:

However, a Lopez family friend, 23-year-old Jordan Castillo, said that the account Lopez’s wife gave of what happened contradicted the official report. According to Castillo, Lopez did have two guns: a Glock pistol that he kept in the bedroom and a .22-caliber rifle, which was kept in the front room.

Lopez’s wife told Castillo that after the shooting, the rifle was where it was usually kept. Castillo added that he couldn’t imagine that Lopez would have come out with a gun aimed at police.

“It doesn’t make sense at all,” he said. “She said when he got up, she heard the footsteps all the way up to the door, she heard the doorknob turn, and then, after the doorknob turned, it was just gunshots from there.”

The officer who fired the fatal shots has been placed on nonenforcement status but has not been suspended, according to WREG.

There is far too much misconduct by police resulting in the death of innocent civilians with no consequence to officers. For the grievous mistake alone for conducting a warrant for arrest on the wrong individual an officer should be placed on leave without pay- but yet a man is killed in this case and the officer in question is not even suspended. Officers had no right to be at the Lopez home and killed an innocent man due to the mistakes they made. A family has lost their loved one and the incompetent officer still gets to keep their job in the meantime while the person they intended to arrest is still at large. Is there any question why citizens are losing faith in the justice system and with law enforcement?

Watch the video below on the “Deadly Mistake” to get more of the story:

(Article By Tasha Sharifa)

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